[RFI] Electronic Fluorescent Ballasts - look for Residential rated

[Eric - VE3GSI]

Steve,
Several months ago I needed to buy a bunch of fixtures for my shop. The 
short story is I ended up buying new off the shelf 'domestic' fixtures as 
they were cheaper then buying the dang ballast need for some used shop 
fixtures I had offered to me.

Though I never followed through with the ballast purchase, I did find that 
the Phillips Advance ballast with the suffix of ES (I think) and with the 
voltage of 120 input were the only ones for domestic use I could find that 
were suppose to be RFI clean. The internal diagram I was provided with 
showed some RFI filtering.  As someone on this reflector has pointed out the 
120-277 input voltage tends to be commercial only with no filters 
incorporated in the design.

Unfortunately, I had a hard drive crash in the middle of this project and 
the document was lost.  So again, the above is from memory.

Good luck.
Eric - VE3GSI



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve"
Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2012 10:20 PM
Subject: Re: [RFI] Electronic Fluorescent Ballasts - look for Residential 
rated


> Thanks for the advice Tom.
>
> The local Lowe's sells Philips ADVANCE ballasts. The model ICN-2P60-SC is 
> for a pair of T12 lamps, 6ft or 8ft.
>
> The installation instructions in the box have a brief paragraph on the 
> last page regarding EMI/EFI. The last two sentences in particular caught 
> my eye: "Most ballasts meet the lass stringent Non-Consumer requirements 
> for commercial applications. Ballasts meeting the more stringent Consumer 
> requirements for residential applications are noted as such on the ballast 
> label."
>
> There is no indication on the ballast label that it is consumer rated. 
> Indeed, the Philips Technical Datasheet indicates the ADVANCE line of 
> ballasts is "Non-Consumer (Class A) rated for EMI/RFI."
>
> Going to call local electrical houses tomorrow, see what they have to 
> offer.
>
> Do you know who might manufacture a consumer rated ballast? How much 
> quieter is RF-wise the consumer rated ballast as compared to the 
> non-consumer rated device?
>
> Steve K8JQ
>
> On 12/25/2012 7:21 PM, Tom McDermott wrote:
>> Hi Steve,
>> FCC Part 18 covers EMI from lighting. It has two EMI categories 
>> (analogous
>> to Part 15): Residential and Industrial/Commerical. You can find 
>> electronic
>> ballasts (used with T8 fluorescent tubes) that are rated for residential
>> use - although not always at the big box stores. The magnetic ballasts 
>> are
>> used with T12 fluorescent tubes. It is well worth the trouble RFI-wise to
>> search for residential classified ballasts if you are using electronic 
>> ballasts.
>> -- Tom, N5EG
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I have a 2-tube 96 inch fluorescent lamp over my electronics workbench.
>>> The ballast needs replacing. The old ballast is inductive and I am not
>>> aware of any RFI issues caused by it.
>>>
>>> The big-box stores only carry the electronic ballasts. Wonder if the
>>> electronic ballast will cause me problems?
>>>
>>> Is there anywhere one can still buy the inductive ballast?
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>>
>>> Steve, K8JQ
>>> Charleston, WV